And They're Off!

The 2008 D.C. Election season officially kicked off Friday when the Board of Elections and Ethics made nominating petitions available for pickup. The D.C. Wire is keeping track of those who get petitions.

(Unless noted, assume the person is a Democrat.)

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is up for a 10th term.

Council member Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large) said he was the second person in line Friday and wants a second term in office. Clarence Cherry, the John Burroughs Elementary School PTA president who managed to get his school taken off the list of closures, may challenge Brown. Meanwhile David Schwartzman is looking to represent the Statehood Green party.

As expected in Ward 2, incumbent Jack Evans, with 17 years under his belt, could face off with lawyer and savior of local parks Cary Silverman.

Muriel Bowser, with 12 months under her belt, could compete with Paul E. Montague. If his name sounds familiar, he was the first Advisory Neighborhood commissioner to be recalled. The brouhaha was in 2004. Montague is also known for tape recording ANC meetings. Third potential candidate Baruti Jahi did not pick up petitions.

In Ward 7, incumbent Yvette M. Alexander, sworn in last May with Bowser, is alone though rumor has it that she could face at least one challenger.

Mayor-for-life Marion Barry, representing Ward 8 as a council member, could get competition from Sandra Seegars, Chanda McMahan, Darrell Gaston and Howard Brown. But we speak too soon, Barry says he does not know if he will run. (We'll wink on that.)

In the shadows, shadow Sen. Paul Strauss, who failed in his bid for the Ward 3 council seat in 2006, is looking to stay on the Hill. But Eugene Kinlow, Robert Brannum and Republican Nelson Rimensnyder picked up petitions for the seat.

Darrell is the next Council-member for ward 8. his leadership and dedication as a true ward 8 resident will make him rise from the dust like a phenix at dusk. his core values as making sure family and community are first, pales in comparison with anything other problems. we must begin to restore faith in both community and family.

You forget to mention that the hot race may actually be the one against Carol Schwartz. There are three announced candidates at this time but the one that has the best chance is Adam Clampitt from Ward 6. Clampitt is a young activist who has been walking door to door for months already.

He is in the process of lining up the Gay community once a staple of Schwartz's coalition. The GLBT community seems to be fed up with Schwartz and ready for someone who really does more than talk. Schwartz has such a huge ego that she insisted on taking the mic at a Human Rights Campaign rally for Gay marriage just to say she was against it.

In addition, it is hard to see how one can support GLBT civil and human rights and then contribute and work to elect George Bush which Schwartz has done.

Schwartz will again be on the wrong side of the Presidential race as she has already spoken for John McCain at the Log Cabin Republican Club.

The District residents are forced to elect someone who is not a Democrat but why not elect a liberal Independent like Adam Clampitt rather than Schwartz who fought Fenty on his schools initiative and supports Republicans who fight us in Congress.

Schwartz talks the talk but in the long run doesn't walk the walk.

Time for a real change. This seats shouldn't be lifetime seats and Schwartz has occupied one long enough.

Adam Clampitt would make a great fulltime Council Member at large and support rather that thwart many of the new initiatives that Mayor Fenty wants to initiate. At the same time Clampitt is the kind of community oriented kind of Council member that Fenty was in his early days and will hold Fenty's feet to the fire when necessary.